When they arrived at the destination, perhaps it was too early, there was no one around, and the water was too shallow. If they drove any further, they might run aground. Mingjing went down to scout ahead.
It looks like a large reef, and the water is only up to the thigh. If the tide goes out, the fish trap will definitely be exposed.
"Dad, look around. It's okay to catch fish here, but you can't use a fish trap."
Fish traps should be placed in areas with abundant aquatic plants or deep water. If the water is too shallow, the fish will not only expose their location.
Ming Dahai changed direction and headed towards the deeper water.
“This place is nice,” Mingjing said, pointing to the area ahead.
Ahead was a small island, about thirty or forty square meters in size, covered with tall rocks, with only a few grasses growing on the very top.
Minghai sailed closer and circled the island, only to discover that it was actually a rocky mountain surrounded by the sea, with no land at all.
"No, there's no beach here. Let's go check ahead." Ming Dahai continued steer the boat forward.
Mingjing caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. "Wait a minute!"
Although they were far away, Mingjing keenly spotted a dense group of things clinging to the rocks.
"Closer," Mingjing stood up, shining her flashlight over. "Are they oysters?"
Ming Dahai steered the boat a little closer. "We can't get any closer. There are definitely reefs here."
"I can see it clearly now, it's a whelk," Mingliang shouted first.
"My God, so many whelks!" Ming Dahai exclaimed as he saw them clearly.
Mingjing sat on the boat, as calm as a stagnant pool. "Are whelks profitable? They're only two yuan a pound, a few cents more expensive than snails. You still want them?"
Mingjing wanted large quantities of goods, so she naturally looked down on these small items. She thought they were some kind of abalone or something lying around, but she didn't expect them to be so worthless.
"Dad, what are you doing with the net?"
"So many whelks, two yuan a pound, there must be at least dozens of pounds, might as well take them."
"Whelks have no meat, and they're small too. Let them go home to their mothers."
Mingjing remained seated, not moving. Could she possibly let all her lucky points from today fall on the flower snail? That wouldn't do.
"No rush, no rush. The Sea Goddess's blessing, even if we get all of it, will weigh several dozen kilograms. We'll buy pig's trotters for Leilei to eat later."
Ming Dahai, holding a net, stood on the boat, stretching out his arm to scoop up the whelks from below. Each net could hold two or three pounds, all of which were thrown onto the boat.
"The whelks smell very good, and they taste delicious stir-fried." Mingliang picked up a whelk from the boat, looked at it, threw away the ones that were too small, and kept the larger ones.
"What's the use? It's worthless."
Mingjing lay on the deck, crossed her legs, and dozed off.
After an unknown amount of time, Ming Dahai's ship set sail again, and when Mingjing woke up, the pile of conch shells at her feet was as high as a small mountain.
"so much?"
"Hmm, it must weigh fifty or sixty pounds. If we don't catch anything big today, this is not bad either."
Minghai was afraid that the market would be too weak to even recoup the cost of the ship, so using the whelks to break even was a good option.
Leaving the rocky mountain, there was another small rocky mountain ahead, still filled with whelks. Ming Dahai stopped again to continue picking them.
It's a pity he only brought one net; if he had more, he would have brought Mingjing and Mingliang along with them.
Seeing that Mingdahai had stopped to pick up whelks again, Mingliang worked hard to sort them down below.
"Dad, I'm setting a trap here. There are mountains and deep water here," Mingjing said, holding a long trap and throwing a piece of raw pig liver into it.
The earth cage is still on the side of the mountain and is gradually sinking.
The number of whelks had clearly decreased, and Ming Dahai continued to sail forward.
Mingjing, having nothing better to do, picked up the whelk and glanced at it. If only she had a fire, she could roast the whelk right there.
Ahead was the deep water area, and Mingjing decided to set up cages here. She stuffed two octagonal cages with chunks of chicken breast and dropped one every 100 meters.
Even with balloons tied to the octagonal cage, there was no fear of it getting lost. After setting off the octagonal cage, Ming Dahai planned to go check the front again.
"Dad, there's mudflats over there!" Mingliang shouted, pointing to the spot to his left.
"That's true."
That mudflat was only about 20 square meters, and it seemed to be a small piece of land exposed after the tide receded. You really couldn't find it unless you looked closely at the sea.
Ming Dahai turned the boat around and headed towards the mudflats.
From a distance, they could see rocks around the mudflats. Ming Dahai moored the boat in the shallow water not far away, lowered the anchor, and several people disembarked with tools and headed towards the mudflats.
"My God, Dad, abalone!" Mingliang exclaimed as soon as he stepped ashore, seeing a bunch of abalone clinging to the rocks.
They were densely packed together; there were probably several hundred of them.
Mingjing picked one up, pursed her lips, and said, "They're all this small, worthless."
She sighed. With so much luck, what kind of big catch could it be? Judging from the fishing tackle shop's past practices, it couldn't possibly be these whelks and abalone.
Minghai went ashore, picked up the abalone and examined it carefully. "It's not small. Abalone is valuable now. This one must weigh four or five taels, which is not bad."
Ming Dahai and Ming Liang bent down to pick up items along the mudflats.
Below the mudflats was a huge rock. Mingjing reached out and touched it; it was covered in abalone. The abalone had a strong adhesive force. She plucked one off and examined it in her hand.
It was a variegated abalone, but a little bigger than the ones lying on the shore.
The three of them picked for a while, and Mingjing was so tired that she couldn't straighten her back. Her back was still not fully recovered, and now she was working again. If this continued, she would definitely get a herniated disc.
When Mingliang was too tired to work, he simply sat on the mudflats and played with an abalone.
"Dad, that's enough. Shall we go take a look ahead?"
With her luck so high today, she can't afford to waste time on these cheap items.
Ming Dahai straightened his back, glanced at the sky, and saw the sun rising, its golden rays filtering through the clouds. It was about seven o'clock.
"It's still early, let's pick some more." Ming Dahai continued to bend down and pick up the remaining items, seemingly undeterred by fatigue.
Mingliang was too tired to move, so he sat on the mudflat and said to Minghai, "Dad, sit down and rest. Let's have breakfast. I'm starving."
He took out an egg, peeled it, and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. Still feeling unsatisfied, his gaze fell on the abalone.
"Mingjing, want some abalone? It's very fresh." Mingliang picked up a slightly larger abalone, washed it in the sea, licked the abalone meat with his tongue, and then took out a small knife to remove the scallops.
"Mmm, fresh." Mingliang then handed one to Mingjing, who scooped it out. "Try it."
Mingjing grimaced as she watched, a shiver running down her spine as she recalled a pornographic film from her past life.
"Alright, I'll take a break too." Ming Dahai sat on the mudflat, took out an egg, peeled it, and put it in his mouth. He then scooped out an abalone and put it in his mouth as well.
Both of them seemed to have no tongues, swallowing directly.
"Not bad, Mingjing, don't let its small size fool you, this abalone is quite delicious." Ming Dahai nodded and opened another one.
"Yeah?"
If Mingjing hadn't been there, he would have suspected they were shills. He dug one out and put it in his mouth, and a salty, fishy taste surged onto his taste buds.
Aside from the fishermen here, she believed no one could stand it.
Creak.
Mingjing felt as if he had bitten something, and his tongue hurt terribly, so he spat it out along with the flesh.
“Baozhu?” Mingjing realized that those luck stats were referring to this.
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